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July, 2025

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Is the Full Tilt/Flexon 3-piece boot design functionally superior?

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FruitBootPro
Posts: 3187 - Karma: 14,612
Not a meme. Disregarding the shape of the boot, I honestly feel like the 3-piece Flexon design (the one used in Full Tilt Classics/First Chairs) is the most optimal design for a ski boot. To me it seems like there is no need to have two buckles over the top of the foot; you're barely supposed to buckle them anyway because they cut off circulation if you dial them. The 3-buckle system on the Flexon/FT boot doesn't waste space on a buckle on top of the arch that will barely be tightened anyway, or a buckle that pushes your ankle straight backwards; instead, it has a small buckle that takes care of the toe, and another buckle that directly pushes your heel back into the heel of the boot. Ultimately, the design uses three buckles that target the most important places, rather than four buckles that don't. It also allows for the ribbed tongue which flexes way more consistently than a wrap cuff.

Thoughts? I'm far from an expert on boots, so let me know your opinions.

(Btw, this is coming from someone who rides Tecnica Mach 1's and loves them, I'm not planning on buying FT's anytime soon.)
5 years ago
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EPfanboy
Posts: 485 - Karma: 3,555
Get Full Tilts
5 years ago
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Poikenz
Posts: 1605 - Karma: 4,913
The 3-piece design was invented to eliminate distortion under flex. The flex of the boot is also arguably better than that of an overlap as it's more progressive. I've heard that 3-piece boots aren't the most stiff torsionally meaning that they aren't the most efficient when engaging turns. I've skied both designs in the past and in my own experience I can get a better fit out of an overlap boot. I couldn't comment on flex or torsional stiffness comparisons as it's either been too long or so inconsequential that I don't remember.
5 years ago
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sickjukes87
Posts: 84 - Karma: 411
I have skied full tilts and Lange race boots and the differences are clear the full tilts are softer and more comfortable but the lange’s are way better for carving but the ahi bang is for real but I do feel like the full tilt buckle system holds my foot in place better.
5 years ago
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drifts
Posts: 621 - Karma: 4,508
the functionally superior part of 3 piece boots is how easy it is to get in or out of them
5 years ago
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onenerdykid
Posts: 6750 - Karma: 11,815
PoikenzThe 3-piece design was invented to eliminate distortion under flex. The flex of the boot is also arguably better than that of an overlap as it's more progressive. I've heard that 3-piece boots aren't the most stiff torsionally meaning that they aren't the most efficient when engaging turns. I've skied both designs in the past and in my own experience I can get a better fit out of an overlap boot. I couldn't comment on flex or torsional stiffness comparisons as it's either been too long or so inconsequential that I don't remember.


One point of contention - a 3-piece boot is not more progressive than an overlap boot, it's more linear. It's flex pattern is progressive (it's basically impossible to have a truly linear flex pattern to a boot) but it's more linear than the flex pattern of an overlap boot. Overlap boots (generally) start out soft & supple, and then ramp up the more you flex into them (they get progressively stiffer the more you flex them). A 3-piece boot will (generally) feel similar as you flex it (of course it will get stiffer towards the end as I said, but it will feel way more linear than an overlap of the same category).

The designs are very different and yield different feels. Pick your favorite and be a dick about it :)
5 years ago
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FUUUCK
Posts: 18426 - Karma: 4,899
Maybe something was wrong with me, but when I had the FT seth morrison pros so literally couldn't ski anymore. If I tried to pressure my tongues and engage a turn normally the boot would fold over right away, it felt like I had no support at all compared to the overlap boots I've used from Lange, Technica and Salomon. Am I alone here?
5 years ago
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onenerdykid
Posts: 6750 - Karma: 11,815
FUUUCKMaybe something was wrong with me, but when I had the FT seth morrison pros so literally couldn't ski anymore. If I tried to pressure my tongues and engage a turn normally the boot would fold over right away, it felt like I had no support at all compared to the overlap boots I've used from Lange, Technica and Salomon. Am I alone here?


This is essentially what I was referring to in my post previous to yours. I won't say that one skis worse than the other, they are just very different and when you are used to one, the other can sometimes feel mega weird. If you are predicting that the boot is going to ramp up and get stiffer mid-turn but it doesn't, then you will experience exactly what you experienced. I would hazard a guess that your skiing style is simply used to the responsiveness and progressiveness of an overlap boot.
5 years ago
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tomPietrowski
Posts: 7296 - Karma: 18,731
onenerdykidThis is essentially what I was referring to in my post previous to yours. I won't say that one skis worse than the other, they are just very different and when you are used to one, the other can sometimes feel mega weird. If you are predicting that the boot is going to ramp up and get stiffer mid-turn but it doesn't, then you will experience exactly what you experienced. I would hazard a guess that your skiing style is simply used to the responsiveness and progressiveness of an overlap boot.

This is an interesting point. I have basically always worn overlap boots so that is what I know. My previous experience of full tilt was the original Dede and any boot about 5 years ago and honestly I did not like it for the exact reasons Matt described.




we are now though just beginning to test some new boots and for me I actually really like the way they ski. They feel much more 2 piece. But now I’m questioning is that good haha? It’s a hard balance of wanting to make a boot to feel more in line with what the majority of people know to not loosing what full tilt is and was.
5 years ago
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MoneyMakerMike
Posts: 1254 - Karma: 5,764
The title of this thread made me think of Dolan
5 years ago
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